There are more than 200 US consulates and embassies across the globe. The US consulate general in Hyderabad issues the fifth highest number of student visas in the world and the highest in the country. The number of US Visas issued for business and tourism to Indians has gone up by 81 per cent over visas issued five years ago and in all categories, the number of visas topped one million mark last year. Michele Thoren Bond, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, said the growth in visas has come through across different categories, including student, business and tourists. Addressing a media conference here, she said the growth in issue of visas over the years is a vivid reflection of the people to people interface between the two countries. This can only get further strengthened as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama have decided to consider 2017 as the year of tourism to encourage travel and tourists.

Speaking at a media interaction in the city, Bond reiterated that a large number of Indian students were pursuing their studies at American universities and said that they comprise the second largest community of students in the US with more than 1,32,000 members. According to 2015 data, visas were given to around 60,000 Indian students by the US mission in the country that year with a large number being issued by the US consulate general in Hyderabad. Further, of the 1,38,000 H1-B visas sanctioned per year across the world, Indi ans are issued a majority of them, she said.